Is It Sushi? Is It A Burrito? Or Is It Something Else Entirely?

It’s a strange concept. Take a dish that is naturally light, fresh, delicate, and dainty — supersize it — and throw as many crunchy, creamy, fusiony ingredients as you can into it. What do you get? A sushirrito.

Even before I had moved to San Francisco, Sushirrito was already near the top of my SF must-eat list. There was just something about that super-hyped, unusual sushi-burrito hybrid that I just couldn’t resist trying for myself. Yes, I know the concept sounds a little ridiculous — why would anyone want to shove sushi ingredients into a burrito format. And yes, I know that the Japanese have already mastered the supersized sushi form through handrolls. But, I do love sushi and I do love burritos, so I was curious enough to find out if this Bay Area combined evolution of the two would form a recipe for success.

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Pristine, but Pricey Sushi Tasting Menu on Divisadero

What:

Ijji
@IjjiSF
A microscopic, unmarked, serene sushi den specializing in high-quality nigiri most of which is imported from Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji market

Where:

Lower Haight / Divisadero Corridor
252 Divisadero St. San Francisco, CA 94117
[wpgmza id=”293″]

When:

Definitely splurgy in terms of pricing, so save this one for a special, intimate date night. (more…)

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Mike Winston’s Best Meals of 2015

Yes, I know this year-end list is beyond belated. Actually, I’m probably over a month late. Normally, I’m not one to make these kinds of excuses, but my life has been pretty hectic lately.

As you may or may not know, I’m getting married in a couple of months, so my time has recently come at an extreme premium and I haven’t been able to commit as much attention as I’d like to this little publication obsession. With that being said, over the next couple of months, I’ll be playing around with post style and formatting a bit in an attempt to find new ways to rapidly pump out awesome food articles with fewer publishing limitations on my end. Please feel free to give me feedback on the new content — I’m planning to review this little experiment in a few months and we can take it from there.

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Where to Go For Boatloads of Fresh Sushi That Paddle Right Up to You

The Japan Center Mall is a mysterious maze-like shopping center full of stalls selling Asian miscellany and a wide variety of authentic Asian eats. There are many places you could choose to eat at – with specialists for just about every Japanese food type you could think of. There are in fact a number of sushi options, but there is only one sushi purveyor inside of this massive mall that I find myself consistently returning to. It’s called Isobune and its a truly special place.

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Where to go for Innovative Twists on Japanese Traditions in Austin

Everyone that’s even partially aware of the Austin dining scene has heard of Uchiko. It’s generally regarded as one of the top dining destinations in the city and I’ve known for many years that I needed to see what all of the excitement was about for myself. I think the restaurant may have actually first come to attention when the now-famed chef Paul Qui tore his way through Top Chef Season 9. He basically wiped the floor with his competition utilizing his signature Asian fusion style and I took notice. Paul has since moved on from Uchiko to work on other Austin ventures such as his food truck East Side King and namesake restaurant Qui. But, Uchiko remains as exciting and buzz-worthy as ever.

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Quenching Late Night Sushi Cravings at Ryoko’s in Union Sq.

Back when I was living in New York, I think I took for granted the fact that it really was “the city that never sleeps”. Literally any hour of the day, I could get my hands on anything I craved. Bars stayed open to 4, delivery services ran around the clock and worked lightening fast, and there was always a restaurant open serving exactly what I was in the mood for, no matter what crazy hour it was that I wanted it.

Now, let’s compare that to San Francisco, where bars start winding down at 1 AM and close at 2. It’s a place where most restaurant and bar kitchens close around 10 PM and food delivery is an utter joke. If it’s past 10 PM and you feel like having a great late night meal, you’ve got to approach the situation with a little more care and a lot more knowledge.

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O-Toro: Another Solid Spot for Fresh Sushi in Hayes Valley

*Editor’s Note 4/17/15: O-Toro has since relocated to a larger space only a block away at 298 Gough St.

I’m constantly looking for sushi joints in the Bay Area serving really high quality fish at very reasonable prices. I’ve got spots all over the region (see: Wayo, Tataki, Sushi Tomi, Live Sushi Bar, and Geta) and I’ve even already got a place I love in Hayes Valley, but Domo is quite small and doesn’t take reservations so it’s not super easy to rely on it as a go-to spot in that neighborhood. Only a few blocks away is another well-reputed sushi den called O-Toro that actually does take OpenTable reservations and also sounded like it had a lot of potential to become my new go-to sushi bar in that neighborhood.

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Fast, Fresh, and Cheap Sushi at Geta in Oakland

One day, Amy and I were headed to Oakland to check out the California International Antiquarian Book Fair (it’s way more awesome than it sounds, I promise). This year, the event relocated from its usual San Francisco venue to the Marriott City Center Convention location in the Piedmont neighborhood of Oakland.

Well, I’m pretty much always on the hunt for great, cheap sushi and I knew we would need to grab a good lunch before heading into the event, but I wasn’t very familiar with the area’s food selection. So, I pulled up Foursquare and did a quick search to gauge my options. Immediately, I was presented with an obvious lunch solution – a tiny hole-in-the-wall well-regarded for its quality fish and reasonable prices called Geta Sushi.

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Unexpectedly Excellent Mom & Pop Sushi at Wayo in Lower Pac Heights

So, there I was. Back on my quest for great and reasonably priced sushi. This time, I didn’t want to go further than a five minute walk from my apartment, so I did a quick search of the radius and landed on a little spot tucked away on Van Ness called Wayo Sushi.

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Mike Winston’s Best Bites of 2014

What a year!! I did something like this last year too, but oh boy was 2014 a doozy. I started off living in NYC, then a started a new job that whisked me off the San Francisco and Silicon Valley for a few months before ultimately relocating to San Francisco permanently. And along the way, I squeezed in a couple of vacations too.

Sooooo, I did a LOT of epic eating this year. And truth be told, I found it particularly difficult to narrow down my list as concisely as last year’s, but I somehow managed. So, without further ado, I present the winners (and runner-ups) broken down by category. I tried to cluster similar dish types together, but really they are in no particular order. Let’s begin!

And if you wanna hear about the 2014’s Best Cocktails, read more here.
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